5 – Out of this world: Cosmax develops new sun care product using space-proof bacteria
In April, South Korean cosmetics research and manufacture company Cosmax announced the development of a new sun care product that utilised microbial materials that survived a trip to space.
The hero the ingredient of the sunscreen is Solarbiome, which contained two microbes studied by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of its astrobiology research.
A 2000 study published by NASA recorded that the Bacillus subtilis spores and Deinococcus radiodurans cells managed to endure planetary ejection and was resistance to ultraviolet (UV) rays.
Both were able to endure over a hundred days on the surface of the International Space Station (ISS), surviving UV radiation and temperatures as high as 100 degrees.